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How Vova and Dima Spent Their Summer Vacation

Joshua Keating is associate editor at Foreign Policy and the editor of the Passport blog. He has worked as a researcher, editorial assistant, and deputy Web editor since joining the FP staff in 2007. In addition to being featured in Foreign Policy, his writing has been published by the Washington Post, Newsweek International, Radio Prague, the Center for Defense Information, and Romania's Adevarul newspaper. He has appeared as a commentator on CNN International, C-Span, ABC News, Al Jazeera, NPR, BBC radio, and others. A native of Brooklyn, New York, he studied comparative politics at Oberlin College.

August 25, 2010

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Growing apart: Last summer, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin were rarely seen apart. The Kremlin released a steady stream of photos showing the two leaders frolicking together in Sochi and other resorts, reminding the public of their "friendly" partnership. But this summer, the story is different. Medvedev has largely stayed in Sochi, while Putin has traveled alone throughout Russia visiting disaster sites, riding motorcycles, and tranquilizing endangered species, like the whale he's shooting with a crossbow in the above photo.

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On the ground: When wildfires spread throughout central Russia this summer, consuming thousands of acres of forest and farmland, Putin rushed to the disaster scene. Here, he discusses the situation with Medvedev from the town of Nizhny Novgorod on July 30.

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Meeting the neighbors: On Aug. 8, with the fires still raging, Medvedev visited the breakaway region of Abkhazia to commemorate the anniversary of Russia's 2008 war with Georgia. Above, Medvedev shakes hands with Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh.

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Grizzly man: Putin stares down a bear during a visit to Kuril Lake in Eastern Russia. When a journalist asked if it was safe to be so close to a bear, Putin reportedly replied that bears should be afraid of people, not the other way around.

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Boy scout? Medvedev sports a scarf given to him by children evacuated from the fires on Aug. 12. With presidential elections approaching in 2012 -- and Putin eligible to retake his old office -- both men have been coy about whether or not they will run. While both have taken a hit in the polls since the fires, Putin remains far more popular. Judging by the optics of the summer's PR shots, he may be done sharing the spotlight.